Asbestos - What is It?

Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals that occur naturally as bundles of fibers and which can be separated into thin threads. Although some countries have outlawed the mining of asbestos, it is still mined in several countries such as Russia. This mineral has been used for many years in the manufacturing industries. Asbestos fibers have certain desirable properties as resistance to heat and chemicals. They are also good insulators of electricity (i.e. they do not conduct electricity), have great flexibility and are able to support a high level of stress before breaking. Because of these desirable properties, asbestos had been widely used in the past in many industries and it is still used today in various industries.
Asbestos minerals belong to two groups: Serpentine and Amphibole. Chrysolite or white asbestos is the only asbestos minerals that belong to the serpentine group. Chrysolite has been the most asbestos minerals to be most used in industry. Approximately it accounts to 95% of asbestos found in buildings throughout the United States. It is also present in many materials such as vinyl floor tiles, pipes, adhesives and many other products. Cyrysolite is banned in the European Union and Australia and so it is not used any more in these countries.
In the Amphibole group there are five types of asbestos minerals: Amosite (brown asbestos), crocidolite (blue asbestos), anthophillite (gray asbestos), tremolite and actinolite. Amosite is the second most likely type of asbestos minerals to be found in buildings in the United States. All the asbestos minerals in the amphibole group were banned in much of the western world.
Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals that occur naturally as bundles of fibers and which can be separated into thin threads. Contrary to what many individuals think, there is not a total ban on the uses of asbestos. Asbestos can be classified in various groups.